Cetacean research team ends world trip

The world cetacean research project Voyage of the Odyssey returns to Boston tomorrow after five and a half years at sea during which a Maltese researcher took part.

The Odyssey Research team, which travelled the world on the Odyssey sailing boat, had been carrying out sperm whale research.

The research included the participation of a Maltese cetacean academic researcher, Adriana Vella, during work carried out in the Mediterranean between June and October last year.

Dr Vella, who has been researching cetaceans since 1997, was invited to take part in the project by the organisers, Ocean Alliance.

The project was aimed at gathering the first ever baseline data on levels of synthetic contaminants throughout the world's oceans.

Researchers focused on sperm whales (above) and pelagic fish as indicator species for measuring the health of the seas.